Feud For Family
by BadKitty17
Summary: Sophie is determined to avenge her mother's defeat by crushing Daniel. Daniel is determined to win his fifth ribbon, in spite of a painful injury. Who will emerge victorious? (Also available on my DA)


"Yes, mum, I've been taking my medicine," Daniel huffed at the screen, "And I haven't dislocated anything today!"

"That's good to hear," Mum replied, "Oh, and I heard that you have four ribbons now, is that right?"

"Yep! Got my fourth one in Coumarine City!" the boy proudly declared, opening his ribbon case to show her. Coumarine City's contest ribbon was a light turquoise, with little green details on its silver-plated decoration. It jostled for attention with ribbons from Aquacorde Town, Camphrier Town, and Cyllage City, all designed with the essence of where they were from in mind.

"That's wonderful! Oh, honey, I'm sorry I didn't catch it on TV," she gushed, "But your uncle did, and he was so proud of you!"

"I'll bet he was," the boy chuckled. 'So proud' was often quite the understatement, when it came to how emotional Daniel's uncle could be when he won. When Daniel had won his very first contest in Striaton City, his uncle had been in the stands, out-cheering the entire stadium. And when Daniel had received his ribbon, his uncle had started crying, and then he gave him a massive ursaring-hug in front of everyone...

But Daniel had to admit that it was a tough gig, winning his fourth ribbon. In Ambrette Town's contest, he'd narrowly lost the final. In Geosenge Town, he'd failed even to pass round one. And in Shalour City, he didn't know if he'd passed round one or not, since he'd been forced to leave early due to having dislocated his shoulder, leaving him in too much pain to battle...And just to add insult to literal injury, Sophie had won that contest, and considered it a victory against him, even though they hadn't actually battled that time. Oh, but the look on Sophie's face when she failed to pass round one in Coumarine City made his victory that much sweeter!

"So, about the things that you sent me, mum," Daniel began, rooting through the small care package on the table. Along with a cute ribbon for Plusle to wear, a new set of seals, and some yache berry cookies, there was a pokeball inside. Just one pokeball, marked with Daniel's name and phone number, "What's with this pokeball?"

"Honey, you know how your doctor and I talked about getting you a service lopunny?" the boy's mother reminded him, "To push your wheelchair and help you pop your joints back into place?"

"Uh, yeah..." the boy responded. Before he'd gone to Kalos, Daniel's joints had been dislocating even more than usual, and he'd had to go from crutches and leg braces to a wheelchair. As a result, his doctor had offered him the option of a service pokemon, a lopunny, to be exact, trained to give him any care he might need while away from home.

"Well, that's what's in the pokeball. She's very affectionate, and I'm sure she'll get along with your other pokemon."

"What about her moveset?" Daniel questioned. Even if Lopunny was a service pokemon, she could still be of use in contests...Couldn't she?"

"From what I've heard, she can use attract, protect, focus blast, and dizzy punch. How's that for a moveset?"

Attract? Sure, that could make a cute first-round trick. Protect? That'd be useful in the battle rounds. Focus blast and dizzy punch? Yeah, they were nice too...

"Yeah, that's great! Oh, and thanks for the other stuff, too," Daniel said, "Maybe I can use the lightning seal you gave me in tomorrow's contest!"

The woman's face lit up. "Oh yes, the Laverre City contest is tomorrow night, isn't it? Your uncle and I will be watching and cheering for you the whole time, so go out there and win your spot in the grand festival!"

"I'll do my best!" the boy cried, "See you later!"

"Take care, sweetheart!"

And Daniel hung up. Maybe he could get one last rehearsal with Plusle in, before he said hi to Lopunny for the first time...

"Oh, what a darling little minun!"

"I know, isn't he the cutest?" Sophie trilled, "Way cuter than that scraggy old murkrow!"

Sophie had kept her word, and traded her murkrow for a minun, a day after losing Plusle to Daniel. It wasn't quite what she or Ashlynn had wanted, but it was close enough, at least, in Sophie's eyes. And now, she was going to use him to snag her fifth ribbon!

"So, I heard that Alexander Diaz's nephew is going to be competing with you again," the other end of the line began, "Do you remember him?"

Alexander Diaz?! That name was branded into Sophie's memory. He was the coordinator who'd humiliated her mother all those years ago.

Bella Yates was the top coordinator of Kalos for nine years in a row. No one, not even the most talented of challengers could knock her off of her throne, until _he_ came along. It was the final of the grand festival. Bella was about to go down in history as the first coordinator to ever win ten grand festivals back-to-back. And then along came Alexander Diaz, a plucky teenager with a fierce fighting spirit, who wowed the crowd with his houndoom and gourgeist. Defeating him should have been easy, for Bella. She should have swept the floor with him. Her charizard and muk, known for miles around due to their power, should have ensured her victory right from the start.

But he won. Alexander destroyed Bella in front of everyone. Her fans, the judges, even her four-year-old daughter, Sophie. At the end of the match, Alexander's point counter was almost intact, while Bella's was one point short of being empty. The year after, she tried desperately to reclaim her title, but Alexander Diaz would not let her have it back. The same thing happened the year after that. And it continued until Bella became pregnant with her youngest daughter, Ashlynn, and gave up coordinating.

Over time, fame turned its back on Bella. No-one cared about the defeated and washed-up ex-top coordinator anymore; it was Alexander who got the spotlight on T.V now, Alexander who got all the interviews in the magazines, Alexander whom the crowds cheered for whenever he entered a contest...While all Bella could do was try and make people care about her pregnancy, even though no-one wanted to hear about that...And try and sell dirty stories about Alexander to the press.

But Sophie never knew that Alexander Diaz had a nephew...

"No...Who's he?" Sophie enquired. Was he the guy with the marching band jacket? The guy with the harp—Wait, no, his name was Nando—The one with the green hair, and the roses?

"He's that boy in the wheelchair," her mother explained, "I can see that he uses similar techniques to Alexander. Daniel, that's his name...I think."

Daniel. Of course! Daniel who'd made her look bad at Cyllage City's contest, due to refusing her help and defeating her. Daniel who'd beat her again in Coumarine City. Come to think of it, he had the same look in his eyes as Alexander...

"You will beat him tomorrow, won't you?" the girl's mother growled, "You will beat Daniel so badly, that he'll never think of wheeling his way onto the stage ever again!"

"I sure will!" Sophie declared.

The woman's eyes warped into slits. "Your victory had better be flawless. I know that somewhere out there, Alexander will be watching his nephew perform, and I want to imagine the look on his face when he sees his dear Daniel humiliated in front of everyone!"

"Yes, ma'am!" she cried. Tomorrow, her days of losing to Daniel would end. She'd win Laverre City's contest, not just for herself, but now, for her mother's sake too...She, Sophie Yates, would restore her mother's glory...!

"Lop, lopunny!"

"Yes, Lopunny, I'm feeling fine," Daniel assured his new pokemon, as she helped him into his wheelchair.

"Lopunny?"

"And I've taken my medicine, too, if that's what you're asking," he grumbled, "Now, let's get to the lounge, so I can wait for my turn!"

"'Punny!" the pokemon cried. So far, Lopunny had turned out to be less like a service pokemon, and more like a nurse, or over-protective mother...

The first thing that Daniel noticed as he wheeled into the lounge was that Sophie was sat near the back, wearing the same purple dress that she always did. Today, the daisy-shaped pins had been replaced with yellow hyacinth-shaped ones, and there were real hyacinths in in her hair.

When she spotted him, Daniel was certain that she would rush over and make a catty comment about how she was, _so gonna beat him,_ but instead, she just turned away, and looked up at the screen. At that point, he noticed that she had a minun in her arms...

"Welcome all, to Laverre City's pokemon contest!" the presenter greeted, "Today, we'll be finding out which one of our lovely and talented coordinators will be going home with the Laverre City ribbon!"

The ribbon was a dark green, with an autumnal gold leaf-shaped detail at the top. Small, red crystals decorated the tails...

Sophie looked at her ribbons. That lovely ribbon deserved a spot right in the centre of her ribbon case, where it would outshine all of the others. That ribbon would mark her victory against Daniel, and the rise of the Yates family once again!

Nando—That bard from Sinnoh—Put on a predictably musical performance with his altaria. A girl with a steelix shocked the audience with a dangerous trick. Dawn was back again, using her togekiss's safeguard to show off how well-groomed her pokemon was...

"Entry number twenty-four, get ready to go on stage!"

"Ok!"

Daniel used his brand-new lightning seal on Plusle's ultra ball, and gave his hair a last brush. All he had to do was stay calm, and not mess up...

"And now for our next entry, it's Daniel!"

"Plusle, go!" he commanded, throwing the ultra-ball into the centre of the stage. Plusle popped out as a yellow blast of lightning lit up the stadium, pulsing and crackling until it fizzled out.

"Use spark, rapid fire!" Daniel ordered, and Plusle threw jolts of electricity into the air. The red bursts collided into one another, and exploded like fireworks at the top of the stadium, causing the resulting sparks to rain down on Plusle.

"Now, use helping hand!"

Plusle gathered up energy into two red, pom-pom like balls on the end of her paws, and her body began to radiate a white glow...Next, she waved her paws as she jumped around like a cheerleader, squeaking out a cheer in her own little plusle-speak. The crowd 'aww'-ed as she ran around the bottom row, her little plus-shaped tail bobbing about as she went.

"Ok, Plusle, bring it home! Use attract!"

And Plusle stopped in the middle of the stage, before she turned around and released waves of pink hearts onto the crowd. The stadium sparkled, and cries of delight could be heard as people attempted to catch the delicate hearts before they burst. Plusle finished her performance with a wink, and another little jump, straight into Daniel's lap.

"What an adorable cheerleader!" the presenter praised, "Did you think so too, judges?"

"Indeed I did," Mr Contesta gushed, "Using Plusle's cuteness and athleticism to show off its electric type power was a treat for the eyes!"

"I agree! Remarkable!"

"I certainly won't forget that helping hand cheer for a long time!" the final judge chirruped, "What a way to make use of Plusle's natural cheering ability!"

Plusle buried her head in the crook of Daniel's arm. The applause of the crowd was proving to be much too loud for her...

Backstage, Daniel smiled to himself as he rooted through his bag for a treat. For being such a good little performer, Plusle deserved a reward...

"This is for doing so well in your first contest," Daniel said warmly, offering Plusle a pink frosted pokepuff.

"Plusle!" she squeaked, joyfully gobbling the treat down.

"Krow..." Honchkrow groaned. Those pokepuffs were the nice ones from the bakery near the pokemon centre. The big, fluffy ones, filled with the lightest of pastry creams...

"Alright, Honchkrow, you can have one too," the boy chuckled, "I assume that you want a chocolate one?"

"Krow!"

As Daniel reached over to give his pokemon the treat, he felt something...Click. And then a familiar, searing pain consumed his shoulder...

"Finish up with fling!"

Sophie's minun threw a cloud of blue glitter up into the air, and the two danced around in it, before finishing with a pose, and garnering a big hand from the crowd.

 _I'm so beating Daniel in round two...!_

Daniel knew exactly what was wrong; he'd dislocated his shoulder again. Just like in Shalour City. Just like he often did. Having such loose, unstable joints meant that he could dislocate everything just by performing simple actions.

 _What am I gonna do? This hurts so much..._

"And here are the eight lucky coordinators moving on to round two!"

To his surprise, Daniel saw that his picture had appeared on screen first. Now, he absolutely couldn't give up! He was going to battle, whether his shoulder hurt or not...

"Lopunny? Lop, lopunny!" Lopunny cried, attempting to examine her master's shoulder.

"It's dislocated," he groaned, clutching his shoulder with his good hand.

"Lopunny!" she said sternly, her paws placed in his shoulder.

He looked up at the screen. Fortunately, he wasn't part of the first battle...

Lopunny opened Daniel's bag, frantically searching for something that could help her master. Though she was only a rookie at her job, she remembered her training loud and clear.

"Lopunny?" she offered, presenting Daniel with a white packet.

"My pain meds?" Daniel questioned, "Lopunny, are you going to...?"

That was all the information that Lopunny needed. With a swift motion, she popped out two pills, and forced Daniel to swallow them. Next, she gave his shoulder a jerk, resulting in an audible crack...

"No! Fennekin, you've gotta get back up!"

"And the winner of our first match, by knockout, is Sophie!" the presenter declared.

Sophie bowed as her minun jumped into her arms, before she waltzed off of the stage, back into the lounge.

She spotted Daniel sat by the door, a pained grimace on his face as a lopunny held an ice pack to his shoulder. So, he'd managed to hurt himself...

 _He'd better not forfeit the contest! If he does, I won't be able to humiliate him for my mother in the final round...!_

"Ok, Daniel and Pam, you're up next!" the presenter ordered, "This way!"

"Right!" the two coordinators affirmed.

The girl followed the presenter, bringing her panpour with her.

Daniel inhaled sharply, and got out his serperior. "Lopunny, take me to the stage," he ordered. If he got Lopunny to push him around, he could avoid excess strain on his shoulder...

"Lopunny!" she cried affirmatively.

Lopunny took him to the stage, as per his request, and watched from the sidelines as he won against Pam and her panpour...And then against a man and his sunflora...

After his matches were over, Daniel watched Sophie absolutely sweep the floor with a man and his houndour...Funny, she seemed extra fired up when she fought him, like he'd wronged her or something...Even though the man with the houndour tended to extremely quiet, and never spoke to anyone...

Wait a second...

That houndour guy was wearing a skull pendant, just like the one that Daniel's uncle used to wear!

He thought back to the day before yesterday. As he'd put his name down for the contest, Daniel had noticed Sophie's surname on her contest pass...It was Yates. And yesterday, at the pokemon centre he'd heard her talking about his uncle, with her mother on the phone...

That, and the houndour guy seemed to be a fan of Daniel's uncle's...

So that was what Sophie's sudden coldness was all about. It wasn't just about her rivalry with him anymore. Sophie was the daughter of Bella Yates. Daniel was the nephew of Alexander Diaz. Today, their battle would be over the glory of their families. Knowing what Bella Yates was like, Sophie had probably been given strict orders to beat Daniel so badly that he would never want to coordinate ever again, just so that she could get back at Alexander...

"And once again, in our final round, it's Sophie vs Daniel!"

Mightyena would have to come out now, rather than on the battlefield. Daniel was in no condition to throw her pokeball, so, she'd have to enter the stage without that brand-new black heart seal he wanted to use...

"M-Mightyena, come on out..."

Mightyena materialised in front of him in a flash, immediately noticing that her master was in pain.

"Ye-NA!" She barked, jumping onto Daniel's lap, "Yena, Mightyena!"

"I dislocated my shoulder," he informed her, "But it's ok, Lopunny fixed it for me!"

Mightyena looked up at Lopunny, who was getting ready to push Daniel's wheelchair on stage. "Yena," she growled, gesturing to her master's shoulder with her paw.

"Five minutes on the clock! Match begins in un! Deux! Trois!"

Sophie glared at Daniel. He glared back.

"Vaporeon, go! Use blizzard!"

Vaporeon fired a barrage of snowflakes at Mightyena, and she carefully side-stepped each and every one. The wolf-like pokemon leapt up into the air, her fangs on display as she came down onto the water type.

"Now, Mightyena, use astonish!"

Vaporeon dodged Mightyena's initial blow, but she quickly caught up to her, smacking her with her forepaws as Sophie's point counter buzzed. Only thirty seconds in, and Sophie had already lost the chance of a flawless victory against Daniel. But as long as she won, and as long as she made him cry and want to give up coordinating, she'd still be satisfied. Her mother would still be satisfied too...Right?

Vaporeon shot forth a hydro pump. Mightyena froze it solid with ice fang, and then burst it with a secret power attack.

Down went Sophie's point counter again. Daniel's was still intact.

"Mightyena, use hyper beam," Daniel instructed.

"You too, Vaporeon!" Sophie retaliated.

Within seconds, two orange bursts of energy had been shot forth from the mouths of both Mightyena and Vaporeon, colliding with each other at the centre of the battlefield. The result was an enormous explosion, and the judges took a few seconds to clear their lungs as the smoke disappeared, before they made their verdict...

For that little stunt, both coordinators had some points taken away from them...

Neither of them were going to lose. Sophie had her mother's honour on the line, as well as her own pride. Daniel had his uncle's honour, his pride, and the fact that he was choosing to endure an injury to battle!

"Use aurora beam, Vaporeon!"

Without missing a beat, Daniel gave his next order to Mightyena. "Use astonish, straight down on that aurora beam!"

Vaporeon fired a neat line of rainbow ice. Mightyena charged right at it, going for the ice with her forepaws. As she caught it in her claws, the beam's colours glowed against her fur...

"That aurora beam is making Mightyena's paws glow with a dazzling light!" the presenter gushed.

And with that, Sophie lost another big chunk of points.

"I...I won't forgive you for that! Vaporeon, use!"

"Time's up! The winner of the Laverre City pokemon contest is Daniel!"

"No...I couldn't have..."

Sophie looked up at the point counters. Daniel had beaten her by miles. Even though he was hurt. Even though he was her enemy. Even though he was just supposed to be an inspirational figure...

This wasn't supposed to happen. She, a Yates, wasn't supposed to lose to a Diaz. She'd failed. She'd failed her mother...

"And with five ribbons under his belt, our inspirational coordinator, Daniel, will be going to the grand festival!"

Sophie shook. Her expression was blank, soul-less, almost, as her legs gave way beneath her. Her eyes were like mirrors; reflected in them was the image of Daniel, being congratulated by Mr Contesta as he received his ribbon.

"'Poreon?" her vaporeon tried, nuzzling her hand.

"Go away..." she mumbled.

"Vaporeon..."

"GO AWAY, YOU USELESS RATTATA!" Sophie screamed.

Sophie looked up, just in time to see Daniel showing his ribbon to the crowd, as they cheered and chanted his name. The sight was terrible.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket. It was her mother. A barrage of insults was fired at her.

Tears fell. She wailed. And then she screamed in front of everyone, prompting the presenter to rush over to her.

"Are you alright?" she enquired, "You aren't hurt at all, are you?"

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Sophie screamed.

"Come backstage with me. We'll get you some water, and you can relax and get it together again, ok?" the presenter offered, switching off her mic.

"Leave me be," she growled.

And she stomped over to Daniel's side of the stage, getting right up in his face.

"You ok?" he questioned.

"Thanks to you, I...I failed my mother!" Sophie cried, and then she stomped off of the stage, without another word. He hadn't seen the last of her! She'd crush him in the grand festival just like his uncle did to her mother all those years ago...!

That night, Lopunny brought a bucket of water to Mightyena, and she froze it solid with her ice fang attack. Next, Lopunny broke the ice into small pieces with a dizzy punch, put it in a plastic bag, and placed it on Daniel's shoulder.

"Thanks, you two," Daniel said peacefully, relaxing against Serperior's body. Daniel had received a call from his uncle and mother right after the contest, both of them shrieking and congratulating him for getting his fifth ribbon. His uncle promised to send him an awesome seal for his grand festival appeal. His mother promised him that they would fly to Kalos, just to watch him perform in the grand festival. All in all, it had been a noisy hour on the phone...

"Yena!" Mightyena barked, jumping up onto her master's bed.

Daniel petted her as she got comfortable, resting her head on his stomach. Plusle lay awake on his chest as Honchkrow settled by his feet.

"Care to join us, Lopunny?" Daniel invited.

"Lopunny!" the big rabbit-like pokemon accepted. She too lay on his stomach, jostling for space with Mightyena.

"You were incredible today," Daniel praised, "Every single one of you. And Lopunny, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been able to compete in the battle rounds."

The pokemon all chirruped in agreement as they moved around on top of him, making him giggle.

"But, it's not time to celebrate just yet!" he reminded them, "Tomorrow, we're gonna start brainstorming performances for the grand festival!"

"Lop, lopunny!"

"Worried about my shoulder, are you, Lopunny?" the boy chuckled. "Alright, maybe not tomorrow then. But the day after that, we'll be training from dawn to dusk, so be up early!"


End file.
